Abstract

The scattering of a plane transverse-electric electromagnetic wave with a nonlinear dielectric thin film, which is embedded between two semi­infinite linear media, is theoretically studied. We assume that the nonlinear film can be characterized by an intensity-dependent dielectric constant with a negative Kerr coefficient, and the wave is monochromatic. Exact analytical solutions to Maxwell’s equations for the fields are derived in terms of the Jacobian elliptic sine function. The solutions contain four integration constants, and they are determined by imposing the necessary boundary conditions on the fields. We also find that the reflection and transmission coefficients can exhibit optical bistable and multistable behaviors as a function of the intensity of the incident wave. For a given film thickness and at particular values of the incident intensity, induced transparency and induced resonances can also exist. (12 min)

© 1988 Optical Society of America